June 24, 2013

Y'all had so much excitement I don't even know what to say! There is a lot more in Minnesota than I thought. The bishop in Lynn Haven lived in Minnesota for several years, bishop Young, I don't know his first name. He asked me what part of Minnesota Ashton lived in I had not the faintest idea... Elder Blake I'm not familiar with, but we have this missionary yearbook thing and so I'll look him up when I get back. And TJ, I remember faintly, was he older than me? Does he have a darker tan... If he is and does then I remember him! Eden is going on a mission? NO WAY! That is awesome, to mexico too! Now she can speak spanish like her Grandpa! :) She probably already can, I don't know...

 

 Well, the biggest thing that happened here had to have been a baptism that Lynn Haven sisters had. They asked us to come and set up most of the things for them, and it being their first baptism, I had to make call them several times to make sure they didn't forget to do anything. Most of it was planned a day before! Haha... The person who was baptized was living in our area, but the sisters worked with her because it was easier, so the baptism was in our area. I also interviewed the person, it is always interesting being the one in the interviewing position. She was super nervous, but all went well! She has come super far to get to this point. Someone even told her a year ago that she wouldn't ever be worthy to be baptized, harsh right? But she proved them wrong! And just as a southern black lady would say, the Spirit of the Lord was all up in that baptism! :)

 Our week had many ups and downs, again... we lost 1 investigator, and almost another, but we talked to him and it was a mis-understanding. But we also gained a very solid one, who lives right next to us! We are seeing him again soon, and he is coming to church this Sunday.

 We are going through another big change, besides the missionary broadcast, our district is being split in two. Apparently a district is supposed to have 6 at most, and ours had 11 including zl's and the senior couple, so they split it in half! Someone made the joke that we don't have District meetings, but zone meetings every week! haha. But now we have sisters in Callaway, they will be here Wednesday. And also my companion got bit by a dog, same dog as Elder Harrer! haha, he's alright though. We walked to the porch at night, to knock on the door. Elder Glick was in front. We walked up the steps and elder Glick said, good dog. I looked and could barely see, so I assumed it was their nice dog. Well when it stood up and I saw the gray color I knew. I grabbed his bag and pulled him away, and said to run! I turned and booked it, and I heard him say, the dog got me, and looked and saw him hopping with the dog on his leg. I ran around the car to help, and the dog started after me, so I ran again, and then we were out of it's reach. Luckily it had a leash on, even though it was a long leash... We checked for damage, and finding out there wasn't any, I laughed real hard! The wife came out, and we didn't tell her what happened, just scheduled another visit! :) I thought it was pretty funny! 

 I think there is going to be a lot more to email about next week, especially with this change. It's going to be weird letting Glick have the car keys... But that is pretty much it this week! Haven't taken many pictures lately, but I will sometime! 

 Love y'all and talk to you next week!

June 17, 2013

That sounds really nice! All we have is trees, and more trees, and the bay, which isn't too bad... I went on an exchange and we visited a family who lives on the bay on the west side of Lynn Haven, and they had the coolest view, plus it was dusk, so the sun was just setting. It was really nice! I wish I could be with you guys, but work still needs to be done! :)

 Our week has gone good. Some of the people who we've been working with have come to church, and it was awesome to see them there, and the convert family, just the mom and dad, went to the temple to do baptisms! He absolutely loved it! I love being able to see the improvement, and not just leave right after someone gets baptized!

 The fear of talking to people is near gone, some houses still look like they shouldn't be knocked on though.... I have really been working on charity, and you can't have charity if you want to talk to someone but you're afraid. That's the way I see it. We are still riding bikes, it's always good to come home with yellow imprints of wherever my backpack touches my body. I'm definitely throwing away my backpack when I get home!

 We are teaching this guy who found us in the library, Wil Adams. He's a writer, and he said he has books that have been published, and also some that won bestseller awards. I don't remember seeing any books by him. He is a really cool dude! He sure looks like a writer! His vocabulary is top notch too, I have to double take some of what he says sometimes! :) He really likes Orson Scott Card too, so we can relate!

 In a couple of weeks sisters will for sure be here! Their apartment is set up, and now we are just waiting till next monday to see who it is. It's going to be a lot of work the first couple of weeks.

 Continue to do well! I don't know what's going to happen when I get home, it seems like everything is changing so much that I will be all cur-bobbled! It's going to be an adventure!

 Love y'all! Take Care!

June 10, 2013

Jameson is moving up that chain pretty quick! Good for him. And you just gotta love Ikea, takes time, but works wonders! haha, I still remember how long it took to get the basement all finished, that was a long process...

 Everything is going well here! Work is work, and we didn't have but one investigator at church, one that we are working with I mean. But those that we are seeing have a desire to continue to learn more, and are keeping commitments, so I'm excited to see what will come from this week! 

 Thanks for the package, I love the M&Ms! It was very hard, but I did share. :) I've been off the hook for a couple of weeks, but now I have to prepare the lesson again for tomorrow's district meeting. I'm glad we have all good missionaries in our district! I still have high hopes for this district.

 Nothing too exciting has gone on this week. We have contacted many more less-active members that we haven't met, and the father of the recent convert family is going into service in the church head first. Our Elders quorum is now reorganizing their home teaching, so I really do hope that it will take off after they are done. 

 I am still loving the work, and I am not getting truncky. I'm just going to continue to think that whatever time I have left is still a lot of time! Which it still is for now, 6 months. I do not want to leave the mission wishing I didn't wast my last quarter. That would be rough.

 I love y'all lots, and continue to do well, and be safe on the trip! That's going to be fun!

New From The Suth - June 3, 2013

 Hey! 6 and a half months left, crazy! There is so much excitement going on over there! I miss swimming.... and Jared is pretty ripped... just saying... Does Ashton and Tati not have any furniture? That is pretty lame.

 Now that school is getting out soon, HOPEFULLY people will be easier to catch at home. I can't believe how hard it is for first, answer their phones, second, return our calls, and third, to actually find! We had three people disappear who we were working with, I don't know what, or how it happened. But all we can do is pray and continue on! Things continue to heat up, but we have miles again! Now we can sit in air conditioning...but work still has to be done.

 Hurricanes are on their way, and we now have to prepare emergency packs. Exciting right? :) But what's probably going to happen is that there is going to be another big hurricane that's going to hit Louisiana again, and miss us. That place is not well liked by nature...

 We have been doing well, probably one of the most frustrating things is not being able to write in my journal. When I get home, I usually have to make calls to the other companionships in our district, or to the Zone Leaders, and that takes up most of my time. But I still have high hopes, and things haven't been as stressful as they used to be. I just need to focus and make sure I'm doing all I can to help others! The father to our investigator family just received the Aaronic priesthood sunday, that was a cool experience! We also had to teach YW about the priesthood, and that was also a cool experience, a young lady came up to us with her friend and asked for a Book of Mormon, I didn't know she wasn't a member! It's funny how God puts people in our paths.

 We have had many lessons with Less-active members, who are now called "returning" in our mission. Most are nice people, just mislead.

 But that's a little of what is going on here. President Jensen had his last Zone Conference with us last week, and I made sure to take a picture with them both! They leave July 2, so one month. That is going to be a sad time, but we heard many great things about President Smith!

 Love Y'all lots and I'll talk to you next week!

May 27, 2013

 

 That is all awesome news! It is great to see the pictures and how much fun y'all had! Things are certainly changing! Well, I don't know what questions to ask, it seems y'all have covered everything that has happened. I do wonder where Cade got his sweet fedora! But I'm super happy for Ashton and Tati! It's still super weird that he is now married and is moving, and everything else that is happening to him.... I am just greatful that all is well, and there are no problems. One of my favorite feelings is the realization that all is well. Whenever something big happens and it all just fits in just right, you know that it isn't just chance. You may make lots of preparations, but there are too many things that we aren't in control of. But God makes a way, way before we ever decide anything. I do know that when we follow God's pattern of living, the things he sets up for us work lots better!

 This past week has been good, but weird... many strange things have happened, and we can't really figure out why. I bet I got you wondering what I mean... The people we visit, some of the lessons we have, and the places we go, it seems that God has us on a strange path. We have found many poeple, and have done lots of work this week. We are just about out of miles and so we are biking everywhere. To help you realize, I have lost 5 pounds last week! But we are working with lots of people, and things are improving! There may be some dull moments, but never a dull day! :) We have also been trying to visit many less-active members, who would've known there are so many!

 Well, the district meeting last week went really well. The Zone leaders were there and they said that it was one of the best ones they have been to in a long while, and that they learned a lot. All I remember about it is that my mouth was really dry! But I think you and Dad would be proud of me. I had a visual aid, the lesson was on learning by the Holy Ghost, and "unfolding" the mysteries of God. So I folded a piece of paper a couple of times and wrote on each fold what we can do to unfold it! :) That was definitely inspiration! haha. So anyway we have another centervillee in our district. Sister Stanfield, she is a year younger than me. She was in choir and I only remember seeing her at school, maybe you know her...

 Well, summer is still getting hotter, Elder Glick is still doing good, and he isn't related to the Glick in California. And I hope my legs continue to have strength to bike! :)

 Thanks for the photos, and the great emails, I'll talk to y'all next week!

PS, I would love a package of peanut m&ms :)

LOVE y'all!

May 20, 2013

 All is well here in Callaway! It is still stressful, but now it is a different stress. We have no good progressing investigators, and so we are contacting potential  investigators, and less active members that we have not met. It is going good so far.

 The heat is turning up, and I am getting a good tan as we bike more! I am being real careful not to get burned, and so I don't know if I will be able to get you that picture of the helmet strap on my face... :) Summer is finally here, and I will be using my chinese fan that I bought at the beginning of my mission more.

 Elder Glick is a good companion. He carries his own weight, which is great! He isn't used to big areas because he mostly served in Georgia, but he is doing real well. So far I really like having him as a companion!

 That would be hilarious if he did that, it's kinda like what Cody Neumeyer's family did with him. I had to stare long and hard at that picture to understand that it was another lady with a cardboard picture of him sticking out of her shirt. I thought it was funny! I hope everything continues to go well with the wedding plans. I did get the wedding invitation, and I thought it was a real good one!

 Make sure y'all take good family pictures at the wedding! I would love a picture of y'all through the mail to go in my little picture book at the apartment. And however y'all get me in there, it's going to be great! :)

 Thanks for the continual support, and I'm very blessed to have y'all behind me with everything I do. It is helping me out greatly!

 Love y'all and take luck, and care for it! :)